Cries calling for the boycott of The RedZone began to do the rounds on social media after host Scott Hanson announced that there would be no more ‘seven hours of commercial free football’ when it returned for the 2025 NFL season this Sunday. The RedZone is now distributed by ESPN and a lot of ire has been directed at them as well.
Hanson shared the news on Wednesday on the Pat McAfee Show, with McAfee later insisting that he didn't think anybody was ‘upset about the commercials’. However, reactions online have shown that such is clearly not the case.
Reactions to RedZone announcement
Blain Crain, co-host of a sports show, was among those to call for a boycott of RedZone. “Like this tweet if your boycotting RedZone,” he said on X. Another called for a boycott of ESPN for ‘ruining RedZone’.
Given that RedZone has been a the popular destination to watch football for so long, the decision is not an easy one. One person, while calling for a boycott, shared a Star Wars meme, indicating they might not ‘have the strength to do so’.
Some even called for the boycott for advertisers on RedZone. “In a proper country we’d boycott every RedZone advertiser,” they stated.
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{{/usCountry}}Some even called for the boycott for advertisers on RedZone. “In a proper country we’d boycott every RedZone advertiser,” they stated.
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{{/usCountry}}The gripe that many seem to have is that ESPN charges for content on RedZone, so some feel that monetizing ads on the same platform is ‘double dipping’.
Notably, Amazon Prime has also begun to show ads within streamed content even for users with basic subscriptions, and requires a plan upgrade to stop said commercials.
A change that was coming
This change seemed to be on the cards when RedZone began to show advertisements on half of the screen towards the end of last season. Now, commercials are to remain a part of the program going ahead.
Hanson is also officially changed the slogan to “Seven hours of RedZone Football start now.” He'd initially debuted this catchphrase when the show was called out for the split-screen advertisements. He clarified that they will not ‘sacrifice any great football for the business side of things’ and no touchdown or first-and-goal situation would be missed.